Background: Descriptions of clinical characteristics of patients hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), their clinical course and short-term in- and outpatient outcomes in deprived urban populations in the United Kingdom are still relatively sparse. We describe the epidemiology, clinical course, experience of non-invasive ventilation and intensive care, mortality and short-term sequalae of patients admitted to two large District General Hospitals across a large East London NHS Trust during the first wave of the pandemic.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out on a cohort of 1,946 patients with a clinical or laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, including descriptive statistics and survival analysis. A more detailed analysis was undertaken of a subset of patients admitted across three Respiratory Units in the trust.
Results: Increasing age, male sex and Asian ethnicity were associated with worse outcomes. Increasing severity of chest X-ray abnormalities trended with mortality. Radiological changes persisted in over 50% of cases at early follow up (6 weeks). Ongoing symptoms including hair loss, memory impairment, breathlessness, cough and fatigue were reported in 67% of survivors, with 42% of patients unable to return to work due to ongoing symptoms.
Conclusions: Understanding the acute clinical features, course of illness and outcomes of COVID-19 will be vital in preparing for further peaks of the pandemic. Our initial follow up data suggest there are ongoing sequalae of COVID-19 including persistent symptoms and radiological abnormalities. Further data, including longer term follow up data, are necessary to improve our understanding of this novel pathogen and associated disease.
BackgroundDescriptions of clinical characteristics of patients hospitalised withCOVID-19, their clinical course and short-term inpatient and outpatient outcomes in deprived urban populations in the UK are still relatively sparse. We describe the epidemiology, clinical course, experience of non-invasive ventilation and intensive care, mortality and short-term sequelae of patients admitted to two large District General Hospitals across a large East London National Health Service Trust during the first wave of the pandemic.MethodsA retrospective analysis was carried out on a cohort of 1946 patients with a clinical or laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, including descriptive statistics and survival analysis. A more detailed analysis was undertaken of a subset of patients admitted across three respiratory units in the trust.ResultsIncreasing age, male sex and Asian ethnicity were associated with worse outcomes. Increasing severity of chest X-ray abnormalities trended with mortality. Radiological changes persisted in over 50% of cases at early follow-up (6 weeks). Ongoing symptoms including hair loss, memory impairment, breathlessness, cough and fatigue were reported in 70% of survivors, with 39% of patients unable to return to work due to ongoing symptoms.ConclusionsUnderstanding the acute clinical features, course of illness and outcomes of COVID-19 will be crucial in understanding the effect of differences in risk, as well as the effectiveness of new interventions and vaccination between the successive waves of the pandemic.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.